Someone failed to advise a NY legal staffing company about a little thing known as the ADEA – the Age Discrimination In Employment Act.

Apparently it “rejected a 70-year-old attorney when it discovered her age and told her it would never hire her after she questioned if the rejection was because of her age.” This, according to a new suit filed by the EEOC.

After the attorney accepted a temporary work project, the company asked for and was told her date of birth, and within 90 minutes she was told her that the offer was withdrawn. The attorney asked whether this was because of her age, and the company allegedly told her that “she would be placed on a ‘do not use’ list and she need not apply for future work assignments with [the company].”

One EEOC lawyer said that “It is time to send a clear message to employers: Neither age discrimination nor retaliation for making a discrimination complaint will be tolerated.”

A second EEOC lawyer said: “More and more Americans are working past the age of 65, and they have a right to do so free of ageism.”

Age discrimination claims are rising fast these days — the aging of the population ensures that employers who are not familiar with the ADEA will be targeted by an ever more aggressive EEOC.

In any event, as we have said in our prior posts, employers are missing out on a valuable resource — experienced employees — if they seek to eliminate them, legally or illegally.

What happened to the respect for proven ability through years of experience? It’s good to hear that the EEOC is getting more “aggressive” toward employers who openly discriminate against older professionals. It’s way over due — putting teeth into the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).

Sadly it’s not enough because employers and recruiters know how to hide their true intentions to discriminate and get away with it. What they fail to realize is that everyone knows you can fool some of the people, some of the time. But you cannot fool all of the people — all of the time. With an ever growing population of seniors, and those who respect their elders, it will become impossible to continue to hide in plain sight.

The EEOC needs to monitor an employer’s EEO-1 Report to press their enforcement of the ADEA.

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